Communications:Chris Cooper is having problems with his road flooding. Selectman Abbott was not sure that it was beavers. He thinks it could be muskrats. He has been up there several times to check and there was a lot of grass and mud in the culverts but no sign of fresh beaver cuttings. Chris Kenoyer had also been there and did not see any fresh chews. Chris talked about a Beaver Deceiver that could be put on the ends of the culvert that could be a long-term solution. Selectmen Abbott said they would keep an eye on the situation and decide what to do.

New business:Chris Kenoyer wanted to talk about the alewives. He had thought that harvesting 25 alewives a day was okay if you held a regular fishing license. He found out that was not the case, although it seemed to be a bit of a grey area. He talked to David Sutter, who has the rights to the alewives as he has the commercial contract through the town, and David was very nice about it and told him to go ahead and take some.

Chris thinks that going forward there might be more interest in them and it would bring people closer to the river and they would take better care of it. He thought that people should be able to take alewives without having to go through the contract holder. Selectman Abbott said it was maybe something to address when rewriting the next contract.

David Sutter arrived after the conversation had ended but it was then revisited. David Sutter thinks that it would be an enforcement nightmare and if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. He doesn’t have a problem with people taking some to eat and will in fact, help them get some if they ask.

Old business:

Snow Plow ContractThe selectmen voted to award the bid to Hagar Enterprises. All three voted yes, with Selectman Baston giving his vote over the speaker phone. The bid was officially awarded to Hagar Enterprises.

Seth Hagar will be calling Selectman Abbott to give him the amount that the contract will be reduced in exchange for not having a bond. The Town will defer plowing payment for two months in lieu of the bond, as this provides the Town with the same level of protection as a bond does.

Selectman Baston said that Seth Hagar did not think that the interlocal idea for snowplowing concerning Alna and Newcastle would be beneficial. Alna owns sand and Newcastle doesn’t. He didn’t think there was economy in the routes. So, the Selectmen will drop that idea.